Blog
LANDSCAPE LIGHTING FOR SMALLER HOMES
Turns out, a surprising number of homeowners think landscape lighting is too extravagant for their modest properties. A perk for the owners of estates, mansions, mini-mansions, and grand residences. That is to say, for people with something to show off. A little reflection, however, quickly flips this notion on its head. Landscape lighting is for smaller […]
COLOR IN LANDSCAPE LIGHTING?
The First Law of Residential Landscape Lighting is “less is more”. A design achieves the greatest drama and beauty with as little lighting as possible. How little is “as little as possible”? Generally, just enough to meet safety, security, and functionality needs. An artistically illuminated outdoor kitchen, for example, can’t be too dark to cook […]
DIY OR PROFESSIONAL?
A quick search of the internet turns up a lot of content on do-it-yourself (DIY) outdoor and landscape lighting. As a matter of fact, there are literally thousands of articles, blogs, and guides on the subject. Retailers of outdoor lighting hardware naturally promote the DIY option. The low-voltage LED revolution of the past few years […]
REPAIR OR REPLACE?
New clients are not always starting from a scratch. Quite a few explain they’ve got outdoor lighting systems already in place. They’re not satisfied with the performance of the system, or perhaps with its general condition. Long-time owners of a property realize one day that the place just doesn’t look as great at night as […]
THE WIRE
The goals of outdoor and landscape lighting are to make a property look amazing at night. This is the artistic side of the profession. On the technical side, the proper choices in hardware and configuration must support the designer’s art. This is where hardware priorities come in. Since the components all depend on each other, […]
2019 TRENDS IN OUTDOOR LIGHTING
2019 has been an interesting and active year in outdoor and landscape lighting. As its days dwindle to a precious few, let’s pause and highlight some of the year’s top outdoor lighting trends. Path lighting, if you will, to next year. The standout markers of 2019 have been in design and technology. As can be […]
HARDSCAPE LIGHTING
HARDSCAPE AND SOFTSCAPE Outdoor living spaces have two basic ingredients: softscape and hardscape. Softscape is all that’s alive and growing. Trees, shrubs, lawns, flowers, succulents, and so forth. Hardscape is pretty much everything else. It’s not living. It’s brick, concrete, stone, metal, and worked wood. These are functional items like driveways, benches, walls, and […]
SELECTING TRANSFORMERS
WHAT IS A TRANSFORMER? A transformer is a box which takes in electricity at X volts and puts out electricity at Y volts. In fact, by the laws of physics voltage isn’t the only thing a transformer changes. In brief, when voltage is stepped down, current steps up and vice versa. However, that can safely […]
OUTDOOR LIGHTING FIXTURES GUIDE
OUTDOOR LIGHTING FIXTURES Guides to outdoor and landscape lighting usually suggest specific design uses for the various types of fixtures. Readers, however, aren’t always familiar with the trade lexicon. Let’s go over the outdoor lighting fixtures menu and shed a little light on it. FLOODLIGHTS AND SPOTLIGHTS Floodlights and spotlights are the basic workhorse […]